I wanna see 52 with Golodir 👀let me pretend he was OK actually
52. Fake death/presumed dead
ooh lot of fake dead guys [cracks knuckles]
He'd been taken by madness or vengeance or fury. His sword-arm an agent of justice, of righteous retribution, and defense. And he'd been quite alone at the end. Him and his terrible foe. He'd never fought like that before, save maybe once.
But it all went dark at the end. He'd won, at great cost.
It was a little too late, he knew. It pained him that it was now, and not a few minutes earlier. He was drifting. Not dead, not seeing the dead either, but not quite alive.
"No! No, Golodir, you can't have--"
"I didn't get to tell you."
That was softer. A quiet lament, right next to his ear. He was chained to a dot in the middle of his own head, a small, dark spot no thought or sensation moved out from. The rest of him was held, cradled, broken as he was in strong arms.
"If you'd come back... I'll tell you. I'll never let you go again. You go too-- too fast, too far for me. I can't keep up. I have to keep up, but I can't."
There were tears on his face. He wished they were his own.
"Come back to me, please. Just this once, come back. Don't make me chase you. I'll never find you now, please--"
A deep, shuddering breath. "Please, come back. Don't leave me alone"
He had made the speech before. He'd said the words, hoping against hope, as his men had lay dying in his arms. He knew the feeling. Desperation, pure and simple. A heart broken in half.
Without moving, he looked to the other side. Nothing there that he could see, but he knew it wasn't empty. Now he had a choice. He was on the edge of a knife, he could fall either way. One side called desperately, the other--
There was a whisper on that side, the side of warm emptiness.
"We'll wait for you. You' not break our hearts deciding."
Well. He had permission. And he couldn't leave Corunir all alone.
He didn't have time to steel himself against the pain. Corunir's words brought him back into awareness, back into the rest of his body. And it hurt terribly. Every limb, every nerve was on fire, and he gasped with the suddenness of it all.
Corunir wailed and held him all the tighter. No, Golodir wasn't going anywhere yet.
